This study analyzes the broadened role of the community college in workforce preparation and economic development over the last 20 years, describing its main contours, explaining why and how it arose, and assessing its impact on students, firms, and community colleges. As part of the study, questions were raised about the costs, as well as benefits, of the community college's new economic role. The report classifies and arranges its main chapters around the following three new economic development programs: (1) contract training; (2) small business development and incubation; and (3) local economic planning. Four research questions were explored, centering on program provision, program origins, variations in demand and supply of programs, and program impacts. The analysis is based on national data on the general economic-development role of community colleges and on an analysis of its role vis-a-vis five different industries: auto manufacturing, apparel making, construction, banking, and auto repair. Information on the relationships between firms and community colleges in the five industries was drawn from interviews, site visits, and documentary analysis with the following categories of people: academic and policy experts, officials employed by firms, industry associations, and labor unions, and officials and faculty at community colleges. Appendices and endnotes are included. (Contains 192 references.) (VWC)

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